Synopsis
She was born on the streets; he was born to rule…
Sheikh Junayd Saif-Ad-Din wears the royal, sophisticated persona of wealth and power. He became a doctor to help his people, but his bloodline comes from the desert and a long line of warriors. His sophisticated veneer dissolves when he witnesses an assault while at a society function—and meets a mysterious woman who emerges from the darkness.
Despite living in a time when staying under the radar is a monumental task, Midnight Rain moves through society as an apparition. Her life was forged by the fires of the streets and she makes her living protecting others. She lives by just two rules: she only works at night and she tries to stay alive.
Junayd is determined to find the enigmatic woman who appeared from out of the night. Positive that she is his Chosen, the woman he is destined to love, Junayd will use every resource available to find her.
From the dark streets of New York City to the beautiful desert kingdom of Jawahir, danger stalks Midnight and Junayd. Can two modern-day warriors, one who lives in the shadows and one who thrives in the bright light of the desert, defeat a deranged man intent on killing them?
One
New York City:
A weak cold front had passed through the city the previous night, and now as the last rays of the sun disappeared from the horizon, the air was still cool. Midnight Rain sat on a beam under the Brooklyn Bridge and cut a piece of apple with her long sharp blade. She slowly chewed as she watched the last ferry of the day travel its final loop around Manhattan and the East River.
Sunset was a special treat. It was the only daylight she experienced. When most people were settling down for an evening dinner with their family, she was waking up. The night was her time. The shadows were her friends. Those that preyed on the weak were her sustenance.
That almost makes me sound like a vampire,she thought with wry amusement.
As she smiled, she felt the stiffness of the scar that made a ragged line from the corner of her lip to her eye. It was an old injury, barely worth noticing now. Still, whenever she went out, she always kept her face covered to conceal it.
She was finishing the last piece of her breakfast when her phone vibrated. With a flick of her wrist, she sent the apple core spiraling through the air. The seagull that had been patiently waiting a few feet away on another beam executed a graceful dive and caught the treat before it hit the water.
Midnight pulled her phone out of her pocket and stretched her legs out. Two photos appeared in her messages. The first was a teenage girl around fifteen years old. The girl was smiling at the camera and giving the peace sign. The second image was a screenshot of a missing person’s poster.
Five thousand dollars was being offered for information on the whereabouts or the return of Mandie Martin. The familiar image of a bug crawling across her screen appeared alongside a message:You interested?
Midnight raised her eyebrows and smiled.Oc, she texted. Of course.
Cams picked up this earlier this afternoon.
Mandie was in the grainy traffic video and again inside a Fifth Avenue boutique. The teen was with a woman Midnight recognized—Hilde Karr, rich socialite and Madame to the wealthy and perverted. The woman preyed on frightened young girls and set them up with men old enough to be their fathers or sometimes even their grandfathers.
Mandie didn’t look like she wanted to be there. The boutique camera caught Hilde slapping the girl in response to her obvious reluctance—on her back, where the marks wouldn’t be seen.
While Midnight knew what Hilde did, proving it in a court of law was nearly impossible. Hilde catered to the rich and powerful, the sort of people who made annoying things like evidence and witnesses disappear. Threats, blackmail, intimidation, and bribes kept the trafficked girls and boys silent.
Midnight was hoping the situation was about to change. A young victim who refused to testify had recently confided in her that Hilde was old-fashioned, preferring to write things down offline. If the ledger of Hilde’s clients could be found, Midnight could finally stop this woman and thwart the perverts who preyed on the innocent. All she had to do was get it to the right person—and she knew a few who still believed in doing the right thing. Excitement built inside her at the thought.
Is there a name on the receipt?she typed.
Yeah. Shell company owned by Oliver Quest.
Midnight whistled under her breath. Oliver Quest was one of the biggest and most powerful fishes in the country at the moment. Buying gifts for a young, unrelated teen and working with Hilde did not bode well for his future.
Thanks. You know what to do next,Midnight texted.
WP.
Midnight chuckled. She would be watching what happened next ‘with pleasure’, too. She tapped her phone against her knee, debating whether to call Mandie’s parents and give them the information she had so far. She decided against it. She didn’t want to get their hopes up. If everything went well, Mandie would be home safe and sound later tonight.
Now the only thing left to do was rescue the girl. Midnight nimbly stood up from her perch and climbed, transferring from beam to beam with the agility of an acrobat until she came to the service access.
Minutes later, she was walking along the sidewalk with busy New York traffic thundering by. She knew where Oliver was going to be tonight. A rich philanthropist was hosting a huge dinner party for the rising New York State Senator. Quest was hoping to become the next Vice President.
* * *